Sometimes Halloween parties don’t line up and folks are stuck with nothing to do on the night itself. That’s why co-op horror games are the new best way to experience some spooky vibes on Halloween while still hanging out with friends in a unique and fun way.
Whether it’s mowing down hordes of rabid zombies or scaring each other using local proximity chat, modern horror games are a cornucopia of good times and make for perfect Halloween fare.
Sometimes gamers don’t want to feel like the victim, but the monster. Luckily, games likeLeft 4 Dead 2are perfect for that all-too-common fantasy of mowing down hordes of zombies that never seem to end. ThoughLeft 4 Dead 2is beginning to show its age, it’s still a world-class performance of zombie co-op action that few have come close to matching.
For a one-off night of action, running through one of the relatively short campaigns is a good idea, or if on PC,there are hordes of custom maps and campaigns to try outalongside some very silly mods. For a good time of scares and thrills in equal measure,Left 4 Dead 2is the place to go.
The past couple of years have seen a small renaissance in indie gaming, primarily based on multiplayer experiences that take advantage of localized proximity chat to enhance scares and hilarity in equal measure.Labyrinthineis one of the stand-out entries in this burgeoning subgenrethat deserves a lot more attentionas a players try to navigate through a variety of mazes with some nasty monster always close behind.
While the game doesn’t have a ton of content, it’s absolutely perfect for Halloween night. Each of its levels are extremely memorable, and there are more than enough great scares to give players the shivers, alongside plenty of big laughs too.
Sons of the Forestdid what few sequels could and actually managed to improve on its predecessor in almost every conceivable way, making it an ideal choice for co-op horror shennanigans with friends. Taking the role of a survivor cast away on a deserted island filled to the brim with mutants and cannibals, players must construct a shelter and venture out into the titular forest for some answers (thoughplayers should probably brush up on some beginner tips before jumping in).
BecauseSons of the Forestrelies on procedurally generated scares sourced from incredible AI behavior rather than scripted scares, it makes for an incredibly tense and fun experience with friends where scares can come from anywhere at any time. Then, once players get on their feet, there are few feelings more cathartic than bringing the fight back to the beasties that caused so many issues in the early hours.
As perhaps the most prominent example of the new subgenre of PC horror games that rely on proximity chat based scares,Phasmophobiain many ways set the template for the many co-op horror games that were to follow. Players take the role of ghost hunters who are sent into a variety of haunted locales to detect the presence ofa rogues gallery of horrifying ghostsand document its particular characteristics.
Naturally, the ghost is none too happy about being documented, resulting in some genuinely horrifying instances guaranteed to illicit a high-pitched scream from a friend. There’s few moments more funny and scary at the same time as hearing a friend let out an involuntary scream on the other side of the virtual house, and it absolutely nails the vibes for Halloween night.
A few years into Supermassive Games' project,The Dark Pictures Anthologyis a collection of short co-op horror experiences telling individual stories with highly realistic motion capture and some great scares. With their relatively short runtime, each entry into the series makes for a perfect evening’s worth of entertainment, and the choices a player makes replaying each entry a lot of fun too.
With an interconnected mythos full of hidden secretsand a host of horrifying creatures to face off against, each “episode” has tons of horror-credentials that nail the sense of a spooky movie on Halloween.
